Honeysuckle
by Shikon Entity Shinobu
Summary: Most flowers die when they get uprooted, but if you cut one just right, particularly if it's hardy, you can surprise yourself with how lovely it can bloom in a new environment. Much like honeysuckle, if you take the time to look inside people, you can always find nectar. Like every vine however, it takes a certain disregard to the rules.
1. Chapter 1

_"What a big girl you're becoming Princess! You look just like Mommy!" She laughed as her father picked her up. She spent all day making sure her room was clean for his visit. She even nagged her mother to let her wear her nicest clothes. Her father kissed her forehead. "Daddy needs to see you more often! Saiyuri, you had me thinking she'd be a little nugget of a person." She pouted. Everyone was always calling her small but she was even bigger than the last time she saw him. She had the marks on the wall to prove it!_

 _"Why can't mommy and me just come live with you?" He ruffled her hair, hiding the expression on his face._

 _"One day Chise, okay? I have a big house and a huge yard and I'll even get you a puppy. A tiny puppy that can fit in your hand so you won't be scared." She was so happy she forgot to exhale._

 _"Mommy! Mommy! Did you hear that?" Her mother smiled at her and nodded. Even her mother was happier._

 _"Don't you go getting her riled up like that Toshiro. Where would we fit the thing?" A dog that tiny would fit. She'd put him in her pocket if she had to._

* * *

 _She'd learned her family was different long before she saw her father kissing the man on the beach. Her mother had already carefully explained that when people who weren't married had children, they had different names. Her mother also repeated several times that even though she and Daddy were only best friends, they wanted a baby so bad that they decided to have her, which was why they loved her so much. She liked her daddy's friend. He was nice to her and snuck her chocolates all throughout their vacation. Their cheeks turned red when they realized she had come back from seashell hunting, but she didn't react. Honestly, she cared more about them seeing her seashells. Her daddy made her promise not to tell anyone but her mom. She made him promise that the man would stay with them forever unlike his other special friends. Most of the others didn't seem to like her much. She didn't think she'd stop crying if this one left too. Daddy's friend laughed._

 _Her father didn't keep his promise. When Chise finished crying and would talk to him on the phone again, he showed up to her door and pulled a puppy out of his pocket._

* * *

 _She always loved when she was able to visit her dad's house. The people working there seemed to like her a lot. She'd just started fifth year, the sakura trees were blooming, and already her teacher liked her. She'd been picking up the fallen petals for a craft project (she was glad that her dad always enjoyed doing "girl stuff" with her and even found new things for them to do) when two hands shoved her face down in the grass and petals. She nearly got up when she was kicked in her side, her back hitting the ground._

 _"It's your fault my parents hate each other! Because of you they're getting a divorce!" Why was he shouting at her? The sun blocked her view of the boy's face, but he couldn't have been much older than her._

 _"Yoshitsune! What are you doing?" She was too big for her dad to pick up anymore, so all he could do was pull her up into a standing position. He dusted her off, checking for bruises. Aside from a red face, she was fine. "Why would you do that? She's your baby sister!" She had a brother? She looked up at the boy, and sure enough he was almost a copy of her father._

 _"Mom said she isn't! She said she's just some bastard you had because you're irresponsible!" Her dad slapped Yoshitsune. It wasn't hard, but the sound still made her wince_

 _"Don't you ever talk back to me like that again, and I never want to hear you using language like that again. Do you understand me?" She'd never heard her dad sound like that before. It was like the tone her mother sometimes used with her, but it was far too cold. He wouldn't talk to her like that when she got big, would he? He'd never even hit her before. Yoshitsune stood still as a stone, not even crying like she was. Even on the rare occasion her mom hit her, she still at least sniffled. "Chise, why don't you go inside and ask Fuyumi-san to help you get cleaned up? Your dress is dirty." She couldn't see any dirt, but she was glad for a reason to leave._

* * *

 _"They have an open position in Hokkaido but hopefully I'll be able to come back and visit you tons, okay?" She almost wanted to beg her mom not to leave. Her dad could pay for both of them to live with him. She didn't want to change schools after just starting high school. She didn't want to be separated from her and leave her tiny but cozy room. They'd lived here all her life. She would have sucked up her tears if such a thing were possible. "Don't be lonely. You'll finally be living with your dad and you have Azuki! I'll call you all the time and it'll be like I took a vacation." Her dad had kept his promise about the dog, but not about her mother. Just the thought made her bite her cheek to keep from saying anything about him. He'd been breaking a lot of promises lately._

 _Then again, she'd realized after all these years that her mother was far too proud to take help like that from anyone- even the man she agreed to have a child with. It would probably be easier on her mother if she agreed to all this. If she acted like it wouldn't bother her then it'd be easier for her mom to leave and go where there was work for her._

 _"I won't." She hoped that sounded defiant. "I'll be fine. Dad's always taken good care of me." Her mother smiled at her again and hugged her tightly. "So when are you leaving?"_

 _"A few weeks?" It would take her that long just to sort through her stuff. "I know it's short notice, but your dad's already setting up your bedroom. You'll have your own bathroom and a vanity and a window seat- just like you always wanted. It's so pretty!" Her mother had seen the place? How? As far as she knew, the ink was barely dry on the final arrangements of her father's divorce. How he could have done all that under the his ex-wife's nose was beyond her. Then again, she'd barely seen the place her mother had managed to find all the way in Hokkaido. She didn't even know what kind of job she had._

 _"I guess so."_

She'd expected to see a lot more of him in the moving process, but honestly, she'd probably seen more of Fuyumi. The woman had seen her cry and throw things, gingerly picking them up and only reminding her to not throw her tantrums in front of her parents.

Chise looked up at her as they rode in the car, quickly looking back down at the brochures in her lap. She'd been expecting them to send her to Saint Lobelia Academy, god knew their uniforms were far less ugly, so when she was handed the pamphlet for Ouran instead she held back the urge to gag as she saw the yellow contraption they called a uniform. It looked like the daffodil child of a normal high school uniform and a missionary dress.

"And you're absolutely sure I can't just wear a boy's uniform?" She pleaded. She'd heard of it being allowed in some schools. Fuyumi sighed.

"They had a hard enough getting you into the A class. Adding a teenage child to a family registry without a public spectacle isn't easy for a man like your father." Fuymi's tone sounded tired even though this was the first time she'd brought the topic up, owing either to the fact that she was as sick and tired of the moving process as she was, or that she was the one who'd argued for her to go to Ouran. As far as she knew, it was only a matter of a libel case to keep things quiet. No big deal once a company was big enough. Besides, unless they were standing near each other, or you knew her father well enough, you could hardly tell she was his child.

"From what I heard it was coming anyway once that divorce finalized. Of course, I still have to live with that witch's son." Chise's cheek was pinched.

"Mitsubashi-sama is having a very hard time with this divorce and please try to be respectful towards Yoshitsune-sama." She had to admit, it gave her a sick sense of glee to hear her father's ex-wife being forced to use her maiden name. Served the witch right for keeping her out of her own father's home, cutting down on the already little time she had to see him. That could just be the personal vendetta against her half brother speaking though. As long as their father or Fuyumi was around he was docile, but she'd quickly learned how vicious he could be when nobody of consequence to him wasn't there. The way he saw it she wasn't really his sister and while he'd stopped physically attacking her, they'd developed a quiet kind of psychological warfare. The difference of course was that she cared enough about their father's feelings to bury the hatchet so long as he was within earshot.

"Yes, I'll remind Tachibana-sama how grateful I am that he let the bastard child share his air," she bit out. Her cheek was pinched harder this time and she cried out.

"So help me I will twist off your whole cheek if I have to. You cannot keep acting like that. Your father has made his choice and your brother will learn to deal with it. You will act like somebody raised you with good sense and so help me if I hear about anything with school I will give you hell until it is fixed. **Do you understand me?** " Sometimes she really regretted the woman becoming her unofficial nanny. For such a sweet young woman she'd really turned into a mother hen when she wanted to. She'd have never thought the sweet, unassuming maid she'd grown up with could be like this. Then again, nobody thought she was capable of throwing an encyclopedia like she had.

"Yes ma'am," Chise whimpered. Fuyumi huffed.

"You're going to raise my blood pressure I just know it," She complained. Chise had the feeling laughing at the comment would get her cheek completely removed. Silence would be a good option for now.

The school itself didn't look all bad. There was definitely more diversity in the courses than at her last school. In any case, there wasn't really any turning back. She had the feeling her classmates wouldn't appreciate her returning after they'd thrown the going away party of the century. Students from other classes and even upperclassmen had shown up, following them to karaoke well into the night. There was no way she could return for at least this term- maybe in fall or winter, but not this spring.

She looked at her books for the term, not surprised that even the A class was starting off at a more moderate pace. The first term, and year in general, were supposed to be a bit easier, or so she'd heard from upperclassmen at her public school. She was glad the rule extended to private as well.

"I want you up by six-thirty so you can go to school without looking like you fell out of a haystack too. I'd better see you going to bed early unless you want dark circles." That caught her attention.

"...six-thirty?" Sure, it was only a half hour than when she should have been getting up, but she normally woke up at seven thirty. "And how do you know what I look like when I go to school? I looked fine!"

"Your fingers aren't combs and it is no longer acceptable to do your hair in the bathroom during breaks." Her face twitched. Fuyumi had to be a demon, there was no other explanation for her knowing that. And besides, if she wet her hair enough, she could have just said she was going for that whole beach look thing. "Two hours before school starts is generous. You'll finally get a chance to eat breakfast sitting down. You won't have to run out the house." Fuyumi wasn't looking at her. For somebody who was good at tricking her into things, she was terrible when it came to lying or hiding almost everything else.

"There's a catch. Yoshitsune and I are sharing a car, aren't we?" Fuyumi rearranged her facial expression so fast even she nearly had whiplash. Chise had set her off again. Why the woman had some bizarre idea that she and her brother would eventually get along completely evaded her.

"What? Are you so spoiled now that you want your own car to take you to school? Or did you expect to walk? Maybe take public transportation and embarrass your father by making him look cheap?"

"Yoshitsune's going to strangle me before I even get to school," Chise retorted. Fuyumi rolled her eyes, not even bothering to respond. "I could take the train. Nobody would even recognize me. They'd think I was a scholarship student or something. It'll be fine."

"And where would you catch the train?" She'd never really considered that. Now that she thought of it, she'd never tried to get to her father's house by anything other than car.

"I'll keep my trap shut, but I'll make no promises about his behavior," Chise conceded.

"All I'm asking."

* * *

Moving into the house was more like a welcome home celebration than she'd expected. Except for some of the youngest, most of the staff remembered who she was from her infrequent visits. There was a surprising amount of being fawned over, which made her feel more like a new baby being brought home than a half grown teenager.

The most surprising part, however, was how much she'd seen of her father. The older staff had thrown a small welcoming party, and her father had run into the middle of it looking like he'd run straight from his desk to the informal dining room. Seeing as it was only six-thirty and a Friday, he probably had. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so unprepared to see his face, seeing as she'd hoarded every news article his name and company were even mentioned in, but something about seeing his graying hair and the way he held his eyes startled her. It shouldn't have because anybody else would have said he looked great for his age. The only thing saving her was that he was obviously more prepared for how she looked now.

It occurred to her that her father's appearance had shocked the staff over the next few days as well, but not for the same reason. While the older staff were sharp enough not to say anything within earshot of her, the younger staff were both unprepared for her wandering habit and how easy it was to overlook the fact that she was in a room. Eventually she managed to overhear that he hadn't been seen in the house this much in several years, even on the weekend. Fuyumi woke her up at six thirty even when she didn't start at her new school until next week, but it also allowed her to see her father for breakfast, and every single weeknight he was home by seven for dinner. Surprisingly, Yoshitsune was at neither of these meals and she was far too cautious of the peace and her father's mood to even bring up his name. Mostly they talked about what she'd done with her day. Walking Azuki wasn't really one of her responsibilities anymore, so she'd taken to wandering the mansion until she'd had a decent grasp of its layout. There were two music rooms, the newer clearly for her seeing as it looked more like a space that several clubs shared rather than something for a single person. She doubted that the mirrored wall would see much use though. Leaving her school had meant quitting the dance team. Despite that, she still found herself practicing the last routine when her fingers were numb from practicing whatever piece caught her eye in the books of sheet music. There wasn't much else to do seeing as anyone she could have talked to or texted was in school.

What had managed to shock her was the fact that when she left her room at seven in the morning on Sunday, her father was already having coffee in the dining room. The previous day they'd engaged in his favorite hobby of dressing her up and she was personally surprised that he had enough stamina to spend money like that and still wake up this early. Then again, things were probably different when you were okay with a three hundred dollar price tag instead of nearly having a heart attack from spending that much in a week. On her side, the only thing waking her up this early was a nightmare of Fuyumi's voice telling her she was late coupled with the fact that she'd forgotten to turn her alarm off. Hearing a screaming buzz come out of her nanny's mouth would haunt her for days.

She bit back a tired groan when he told her that they were going on another outing, but she'd realized their real purpose when they got home and she immediately felt the shift in atmosphere. She could immediately see it in the slight discomfort of some of the maids. Even when they were little Yoshitsune had that kind of effect on the staff. She'd always assumed he'd inherited it from his mother. While she felt bad for them, she was also insanely glad her father had opted to dine out for dinner instead of come home. She was even more glad that their purchases and starting a new school the next day gave her an excuse to hide away in her room and avoid her half brother. Her room was the one place he'd never go near, either out of some unwilling truce or a warning from his mother she'd never really figure it out. Even better that there was no way he could have simply been passing by when she was an entire house away from him.

What she did know was Monday morning would be _different_. She had no idea whether it was for better or worse, or if it would be entertaining or not. Different was the best word she had at the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Surprisingly, Chise hadn't woken up to the screaming sound of her alarm clock coming out of Fuyumi's mouth. She didn't even wake up to a screaming Fuyumi at all, which had become the norm in her short few days in the house.

Instead, she woke up to very bright sunlight and Fuyumi gently shaking her awake. It still being six-thirty in the morning, all she managed to do was pull her covers she'd wrapped around her head even tighter to block out the sunlight.

"Come on now! You don't want to be late on your first day!" Fuyumi sounded almost...excited? Chise supposed she could make things easier on her nanny at least this once. Besides, like this she'd probably never get back to her dream. She couldn't even remember it by now.

"I'm up," She said weakly, willing her body to finally sit up, but reluctant to leave the warmth of her blankets. She reluctantly pulled down the little hood she'd made and looked at Fuyumi.

"Come on, it's your first day of school!" Fuyumi tugged the blankets away from her. "All of your things are laid out in the bathroom and I packed your bag for you. I even made sure that breakfast will be nice and filling so you won't get hungry before lunch, and I packed you a snack for after school in your bag, as well as your lunch money." She let Fuyumi practically push her into the bathroom, waking up a bit more as the woman talked.

"You did all that Mommy?" She was pretty sure that was supposed to be sarcastic, but all she could manage right now was confused.

"Well you're still pretty useless in the morning on your own." She was sure Fuyumi understood what she meant.

Fuyumi had been right about getting her used to waking up early. Instead of wandering around the bathroom confused she'd actually managed to get herself ready without yelling or cheek pinching. She even put on the tiny bit of makeup she wore without messing up (though that was a skill she'd perfected from about two years of doing more than just concealer, liner, and mascara on the train). The only hard part was remembering what the numerous bottles on her shelf did. In the end she'd just defaulted on the basic clean, tone, moisturize steps she'd always done, though she suspected that she may have gotten everything after the cleanser wrong. Was moisturizer supposed to come in a spray bottle? She didn't have the energy to fix it if it was wrong, so she just rolled with whatever looked the most correct. She could ask her father the particulars of everything else when he got home.

What did help her wake up was realizing that the uniform seemed less annoying when she actually put it on. It was probably because she didn't have the petticoat she'd seen on the other girls in the photos, meaning instead of a bell shape it fell loosely to her knees with soft pleats. Now it resembled something she would have worn on her own. She kind of liked how the yellow brought out the blue in her eyes instead of the grey.

She was pretty pleased with herself when she left the bathroom, but she could immediately see that Fuyumi was not. Chise pat herself down, making sure she'd zipped the dress up and that her high stockings were securely held up. As far as she could tell she was okay.

"What did I do now?" She whined, growing afraid at how Fuyumi was pursing her lips. It reminded her eerily of her father's ex-wife.

"I can't believe I have to do everything for you! You're not a baby anymore Chise!" Fuyumi pushed her down into the vanity chair, and she winced as she pulled the scrunchie out of her hair. "Don't you remember how to do your own hair at home?" She stayed silent as Fuyumi detangled her hair into something more "presentable". Like nobody at this school had ever seen a bun before. Chise wanted to say something in her defense, but it wasn't really a bright idea seeing as how her nanny was already holding a weapon and had a decent grip on her head.

"There! Now get your bag and go eat breakfast." Chise didn't have to be told twice. She would swear to herself later that she hadn't run out of her room. She was speed-walking. For exercise's sake.

She raced down the stairs nearly crashing into a blue blazer at the foot. Out of habit she blurted an apology to the butler before skidding to a stop right before the dining room.

All the butlers wore black overcoats.

She could feel eyes burning into her back and she forced herself not to freeze.

"Are you going to just stand there all day and make the both of us late or are you going to sit. Down." The voice bit out those last two words and she swallowed her reaction as she turned to look at her brother. Grey eyes bored down at her and she tried her best to look bored.

"As far as I know, we're both on time. And besides, is that any way to talk to your baby sister on her first day of school with you?" Was it wise to push her brother's buttons before they had to get into an enclosed space together? Nope. It was fun though. "You could even introduce me to some of your friends to help me get acclimated!" She paused. "Wait, I forgot, you don't have any of those, do you?"

"You little-" She ducked into the dining room, smiling brightly at her father as if she hadn't done anything.

"Chise! You're earlier than your brother!" She shone with pride as she took the seat closest to him. "There you are Yoshitsune. Don't you think Chise's adorable in her uniform?" Her brother pretended to be too busy with his food. "Well I guess you never were one for aesthetics," her father half whispered in disappointment, folding his paper to the side of his food.

"I thought you left earlier than this, Father," Yoshitsune finally offered up. Chise relaxed as she began eating. Finally he was catching on that their pettiness did not extend this far.

"Well, there's no harm in taking a little extra time to be with my family this morning. It's a big morning for your sister, and the first day of school is always scary."

"She's fifteen, I'm sure she's fine." Chise took a sip of milk to bite back her retort.

"Well, it's her first day in a new school, and it is her first private school." She smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, it's not that scary. Fuyumi gave me a bunch of brochures to read. I think I'm pretty prepared. I even have a map!" (Translation: Fuyumi made her memorize every detail of her school day because she would be damned if her charge was late to class because of something as small as being lost.) Her father looked at her.

"That's odd of you to be so prepared. Are you sure you aren't nervous?" She nodded. Nothing made her nervous except for the thought of surviving an entire car ride with her brother. "Well just in case it's good I'm ready to leave early enough to drop you off at school." She blinked.

Yoshitsune blinked.

"You're what?" He asked.

"I figured Chise would feel better if I dropped her off at school!" her father chirped. "Like when she was little." Very little. She hadn't been dropped off at school by anyone since elementary school. Even so, she wasn't going to pass up on the chance to not be in the same car as her brother without supervision. "It's fine if you don't want me to Chise. Daddy understands if you want to go by yourself."

"It's great," she answered awkwardly. It was hard to tell her father no when he wanted to be nostalgic. Besides, any time they spent together that wasn't spending money was extremely valuable. "But do I ride home with nii-san too?" Yoshitsune twitched at the term. She'd rather that than making it sound like there was a distance between herself and her brother.

"Well, your brother has club activities, so you can call the house and have a car sent to pick you up from school." She was not going to ask how many cars they had to have for her to be able to do that. Honestly, she was getting a bit tired of wondering how obscenely rich they had to be for multiple things to be possible.

She mostly let their father talk through breakfast, trying to finish her food soon enough for her to not have to feel her brother boring holes into her skull. She tried to be more cheerful as she wiped her mouth and stood up. She'd have reached for their breakfast dishes if they hadn't been picked up as soon as she'd reached for her napkin.

"Looks like it's time we got going then." She nodded.

"Have a good day at work, Father," Yoshitsune said automatically.

"Don't be late for school." Her brother nodded and she slipped out, nearly running into a butler holding her jacket. She awkwardly let him help her into it, thanking him quietly.

"It's nothing. Good luck with your first day of school Miss." She nodded again, walking towards the door before doubling back towards the stairs.

"Something wrong?" She looked up as her father shrugged on his blazer.

"I almost forgot my school bag." He raised his brow, pointing to the door where a maid was holding her school bag. "Oh."

"You'll eventually get used to it." He gently ushered her towards the door, and she received another well wish as she took her bag. "Thank you" was quickly becoming her most used phrase so far. Something told her she'd never really get used to having so much already done for her. She'd have made a joke about her homework being done for her too, but she could see Fuyumi waiting for her near the car and she was awake enough to realize she didn't want to chance it.

"Good luck on your first day Chise!" She was almost surprised, but her mood brightened up at the well wish.

"Thanks!" She was still looking at her as she got in the car and she could feel her head brush the top of the butlers arm as he made sure she didn't bang her head. She nearly bounced in her seat as the nervousness began to mix with the positivity being sent her way.

"Don't worry. I always got first day jitters too," her father said as he slid in. "It helps to just breathe. Everything's going to be fine." She nodded, feeling her father reach over to hug her with one arm. "You'll be fine. Ouran's a wonderful school. I don't think there's better hands I could have put you in."

"Well when you put it that way I feel much better," she admitted. She felt good that she got a smile out of her father. The less he worried about, the less he had to feel guilty about.

"See! Looking up already." Her smile felt a little less forced now. "So where do you go if you can't find your class?"

"But I already know how to find my class. It's right there on the second floor, east corridor." Her father blinked.

"The nurse's office?"

"First floor, north corridor." Her father was slowly growing more bewildered.

"Bathroom?"

"The girls' rooms are always on the northeast except for the uppermost few floors, in which case they're on the southeast." Her father leaned back.

"This is very similar to your first day of daycare?" She raised her brow. "Your mother and I thought for sure you were going to cry and then you just went ahead and played with the other children. Turned out we didn't really have anything to worry about."

"Don't worry. If the kids are mean to me I'll do my best to remember that not everyone can have brains _and_ money."

"I'm somehow more worried." She smiled, letting him know she was only joking. "Just, give them a chance to get to know you before you start using that sarcasm." She saluted.

"Gotcha!" Her father pat her cheek.

Her father was right about him taking her to school making her feel better. She felt the car pull to a stop and she saw the courtyard outside the dark tint of the windows.

"You'll do fine." She hugged her father tightly. "Have a good day at school Chise." She nodded, feeling the cool air from the door being opened. She swallowed as the driver helped her out the car, absentmindedly thanking him as she wandered onto the sidewalk.

"Well, nothing to lose."


End file.
